I was just walking down the street, coffee in hand, suddenly realizing how "normal" it all is already. Like most days, I went to a coffee shop that accepts lightning. Like most days, I paid directly with sats that someone zapped me here on nostr. Like most days, neither the merchant nor myself thought twice about it, or took a minute to marvel at what just happened.
So, allow me to do just that. Marvel at what just happened. While everyone is having a fantastically crazy time at #nostriga, uncountable people are using bitcoin in a myriad of ways. Some for savings, large and small; some for transactions, large and small; some for other stuff. Bitcoin is slowly but surely entering the world stage. Some commentators will tell you that this is good. Some commentators will tell you that this is bad. Whatever the case may be, it is unavoidable.
I see nostr under a similar light. As platform-based manipulation and censorship ramps up—which it inevitably will—the usage of nostr will ramp up too, and with it the usage of zaps and everything else that comes with it. And soon enough, buying a coffee (or breakfast, lunch, and dinner) with zap-based income will be normal. Just like it's "normal" to be an "influencer" today, or a "YouTuber" or whatnot... It's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's a normal thing. Anyone can do it.
Back to my coffee. I remember when I had the "oh my god, I can live on bitcoin here!!!" experience for the first time. It was in Bitcoin Jungle, a couple of months after the initiative was launched. I stayed there for 2 weeks or so, buying the necessities of daily life with sats outright. And it worked. Flawlessly. I had zero payment failures, and was exclusively using Zeus with my own node. It was incredible.
Why is this incredible, you ask? Shouldn't stuff just work? Yes, it should. But building out the tech and the infrastructure to make it all work is BLOODY HARD. I remember the first Lightning Conference in Berlin, in 2019. Everyone came, everyone had all their channels and wallets and everything prepared, and ~50% of payments failed. For... reasons.
Fast-forward to today: I go to one of the 100+ merchants in the city that accept bitcoin, a quick tap on the PoS device & QR code scan, boom, done. Is it always perfect? Of course not. Will it get better still? 100% it will. Very soon these merchants will have NFC-enabled devices, and the tap-to-pay experience that people are used to with cards & Apple pay will be normal for bitcoin payments too. If you are in Riga right now, you'll experience this first-hand thanks to Bolt cards and BTCPay Server. It's awesome, it's open-source, and it works. And it will get better still.
We are truly living in the best and weirdest timeline; a timeline where shitposting on the internet can buy you lunch and dinner; a timeline that spawns amazing technological movements like #nostr; a timeline that, every ~10 minutes, allows for a small miracle to happen. A timeline where "magic internet money" is a normal thing; a timeline that, thanks to the magic dust of cryptography, enables anyone to speak about anything, without having to ask for permission. I'm grateful.
Thank you, Satoshi. 🙏🧡
I remember pre-nostr, pre-bitcoin, and pre-smartphone, and pre-internet times well.
Even with all the nostalgia for "the good old days" --- I don't want to go back.
Gave the new nostr:nprofile1qqsx2wyjt6lmvc05rrvv05r5hm3w3t7h0pcpmkyswrpd4ymd2u09tscpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduq3kamnwvaz7tmwdaehgu339e682mnwv4k8xct5wvhxxmmdqywhwumn8ghj7mn0wd68yttsw43zuam9d3kx7unyv4ezumn9wscn3xgh release a spin. Works flawlessly on Android with Amber as a signer.
No nsecs were harmed during this test.
Also: shout-out to all the @twentyone.world fork runners & everyone who is part of the community in some way, shape, or form.
What a special thing. Thank you all 🙏🧡
> Maier sagte ihr, dass kein intelligenter Mensch, der sich 100 Stunden mit Bitcoin befasst habe, es für eine schlechte Idee halte. „Soll ich also in Bitcoin investieren?“, fragte die Kollegin. „Nein, du sollst dich 100 Stunden damit beschäftigen“, entgegnete er.
👌
h/t and most of the credit (not all of it) to nostr:nprofile1qqsftzm4fgwnmed4ajs0uvwj642lg5fjt7zf32pa5xvhkl7dtsu73rqpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduq3camnwvaz7tmwdaehgu3wd46hg6tw09mkzmrvv46zucm0d5q3samnwvaz7tmwdaekgunfwejjuctswqhhyetvv9us9ge3mm 69%
Free as in freedom.
nostr:nevent1qqs8utgw74y3s3e67zzx2mz48n0vtta8c7g3ruzfd7s257rtkntrq0qpzamhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuurjd9kkzmpwdejhgtczyzprg8ug9dh2hnft5lc7ly92m9su7p6279deaaz2p8ua928ml0n2yqcyqqqqqqgdmvl4x
IF YOU LIKE NOSTR AND ECASH YOU SHOULD COME, JUST SAYING
nostr:nevent1qqs9m86e9507aptuxelf3cgzfhuqw0n95v8f9km8n8qqze6kfg2pnvgpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzvuhsygyrmxv6zjrzts7jhwqe4ucxfs8k5ykhm2y0dzevdy3p7wn5v9carypsgqqqqqqslr497n
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